TSA awards HR contract

CPS Human Resource Services

The Transportation Security Administration has awarded a contract, valued at $553 million, for human resources services to CPS Human Resource Services, according to an announcement in the Commerce Business Daily.

CPS, based in Sacramento, Calif., is an agency committed to improving HR in the public sector. White House officials had delayed the deal while they wrangled over plans for the new Homeland Security Department. The department—a consolidation of 22 agencies and 170,000 people—officially launches Jan. 24.

Officials have given TSA the green light to move on its HR contract with the flexibility to include the new department's headquarters if that is called for, agency sources said.

The agreement with CPS, awarded Dec. 26, 2002, came in the nick of time. A $20 million contract expired last month under which NCS Pearson Inc. handled the agency's HR needs.

President Bush signed legislation creating TSA on Nov. 19, 2001, about two months after the terrorist attacks. Since then, the agency has grown from a 13-person operation to a team of thousands, including 158 federal security directors and some 56,000 security screeners.

The new contract covers all staff members at TSA, excluding Senior Executive Service employees, and has a one-year base with four one-year options to renew, said Sadie Walthers, an acting program executive at the agency.

CPS will manage employee recruitment, with duties that include posting job openings, receiving applications, providing assessments and recommending salaries, Walther said.

Meanwhile, TSA's day-to-day HR servicing was outsourced to Accenture as part of another December deal, valued at $214 million, she said, adding that the company will maintain the official personnel files on the agency's workers.